Wonderfull Balloon Ascents
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Another ascent was arranged for the 14th of August, in which
Robertson was to be accompanied by the professor, but the latter,
yielding to the entreaties of his family, did not go. "I went up
with my friend Lhoest," says Robertson, "at forty-two minutes
past twelve midday. In a minute or two we rose up between two
masses of cloud, which seemed to open up and offer us a passage.
The upper surfaces of these clouds are not uniformly level, like
the under sides seen from the earth, but they are of a conical or
pyramidal shape. These imposing masses seem to precipitate
themselves upon the earth, as if to engulf it, but this optical
illusion was due to the apparent immobility of the balloon, which
at the moment was rising at the rate of about twenty feet per
second.
"The fear of losing the view of the Baltic, which we perceived
between the clouds at intervals, obliged us to renounce the
project of rising as high as on the last occasion. The barometer
was at fifteen inches, and the thermometer one degree below zero,
when I let off two pigeons.
"One descended in a diagonal direction, its wings half open but
not moving, with a swiftness which seemed that of a fall. The
other flew for an instant, and then placed itself upon the car,
and did not wish to quit us. Acting on the hint of Dr. Reimarus,
I tried the same experiment with butterflies, but the air was too
much rarefied for them; they attempted in vain to raise
themselves by their wings, but they did not forsake the car.
"The wind continuing to carry me towards the sea, I resolved to
bring my observations to an end. I effected my descent in a
meadow, near the village of Rehorst, in Holstein, after having
run sixteen leagues from France in sixty-five minutes."
At the commencement of the year 1804, Laplace, at the Institute,
proposed to take advantage of the means offered by aerostation to
verify at great heights certain scientific points--as, for
example, those which concern magnetism. This proposition was made
at a favourable time, and was, so far, carried out in the best
possible way. The aeronauts who were appointed to carry out the
expedition were Biot and Gay-Lussac, the most enthusiastic
aeronauts of the period.
The following is their report:--
"We observed the animals we had with us at all the different
heights, and they did not appear to suffer in any manner. For
ourselves, we perceived no effect any more then a quickening of
the pulse. At 10,000 feet above the ground we set a little
green-finch at liberty. He flew out at once, but immediately
returning, settled upon our cordage; afterwards, setting out
again, he flew to the earth, describing a very tortuous line in
his passage. We followed him with our eyes till he was lost in
the clouds. A pigeon, which we set free at the same elevation,
presented a very curious spectacle. Placed at liberty on the
edge of the car, he remained at rest for a number of instants, as
if measuring the length of his flight; then he launched himself
into space, flying about irregularly, as if to try his wings.
Afterwards he began his descent regularly, sweeping round and
round in great circles, ever reaching lower, until he also was
lost in the clouds."
As to the voyagers themselves, this is how they speak of their
situation at the height of 3,000 yards:--
"About this elevation we observed our animals. They did not
appear to suffer from the rarity of the air, yet the barometer
was at twenty inches eight lines.. We were much surprised that
we did not suffer from the cold; on the contrary, the sun warmed
us much. We had thrown aside the gloves which had been put on
board, and which were of no use to us. Our pulses were very
quick; that of M. Gay-Lussac, which is 62 in the minute on
ordinary occasions, now gave 80; and mine, which is ordinarily
89, gave 111. This acceleration was felt by both of us in nearly
the same proportion. Nevertheless, our respiration was in no way
interfered with, we experienced no illness, and our situation
seemed to us extremely agreeable."
The following is their report to the Galvanic Society--
"We have known for a long time that no animal can with safety
pass into an atmosphere much more dense or much more rare than
that to which it has been accustomed. In the first case it
suffers from the outer air, which presses upon it severely; in
the second case there are liquids or fluids in the animal's body
which, being less pressed against than they should be, become
dilated, and press against their coverings or channels. In both
cases the symptoms are nearly the same--pain, general illness,
buzzing in the ears, and even haemorrhage. The experience of the
diving-bell has long made us familiar with what aeronauts suffer.
Our colleague (Robertson), and his companion, have experienced
these effects in great intensity. They had swelled lips, their
eyes bled, their veins were dilated, and, what is very
remarkable, they both preserved a brown or red tinge which
astonished those that had seen them before they made the ascent.
This distension of the blood-vessels would necessarily produce an
inconvenience and a difficulty in the muscular action."
Chapter II. Ascent of M. Gay-Lussac Alone--Excursions of MM.
Barral and Bixio.
Respecting this ascent, Arago states that M. Gay-Lussac has
reduced to their proper value the narratives of the physical
pains which aeronauts say they suffer in lofty aerial ascents.
M. Gay-Lussac says:--"Having arrived at the most elevated point
of my ascent, 21,000 feet above sea level, my respiration was
rendered sensibly difficult, but I was far from experiencing any
illness of a kind to make me descend. My pulse and my breathing
were very quick; breathing very frequently in an extremely dry
atmosphere, I should not have been surprised if my throat had
been so dry as to make it painful to swallow bread."
After having finished his observations, which referred chiefly to
the magnetic needle, with all the tranquillity of a doctor in his
study, Gay-Lussac descended to the earth between Rouen and
Dieppe, eighty leagues from Paris.
After the names of Robertson, Gay-Lussac, and Biot, science has
registered those of Barral and Bixio, two men whose aeronautic
achievements have enriched meteorology with more important
discoveries, perhaps, than any we have yet mentioned.
These gentlemen had conceived the project of rising by means of a
balloon to a great height, in order to study, with the assistance
of the very best instruments in use in their day, a multitude of
phenomena then imperfectly known. The subjects to which they
were specially to direct their attention, were the law of the
decrease of temperature in progress upwards, the discovery of
whether the chemical composition of the atmosphere is the same
throughout all its parts, the comparison of the strength of the
solar rays in the higher regions of the atmosphere and on the
surface of the earth, the ascertaining whether the light
reflected and transmitted by the clouds is or is not polarised,
&c.
All the preparations having been made in the garden of the
Observatory at Paris, the ascent took place on the 29th of June,
1850, at 10.27 a.m., the balloon being filled with hydrogen gas.
The first ascent was a signal failure. It was found that the
weather being bad, the envelope of the balloon was torn in
several places, and had to be mended in all haste. Immediately
preceding the moment of ascent, a torrent of rain fell. But the
voyagers were determined to ascend. They placed themselves in
the car, and, when thrown off from the fastenings, they rose
through the air with the speed of an arrow. The height to which
the balloon reached made it suddenly dilate, and the network,
which was much too small, was stretched to the utmost. The
balloon was forced down upon them by the dilation, and one of
them, in the endeavour to work the valve, made a rent in the
lower part of the globe, from which the gas escaping almost over
the heads of the travellers, nearly choked them. The escape of
the gas had the usual result--the balloon descended rapidly, and
fell in a vineyard near Lugny, where they were found by the
peasants holding on to the trees by their legs and arms, and thus
attempting to stop the horizontal advance of the car. They had
risen to the height of over 17,000 feet, and they had descended
from this height in from four to five minutes.
For all practical purposes, the ascent was a failure, and the
aeronauts immediately commenced preparations for a new voyage,
which took place a month afterwards. They rose to very great
altitudes, but experienced no illness from the rarefied air. M.
Bixio did not feel the sharp pains in the ears from which he had
suffered on the former occasion. They passed through a mass of
cloud 15,000 feet in thickness, and they had not yet passed quite
through it, when at the height of over 21,000 feet from the
ground, they began to descend, their descent being caused by a
rent in the envelope of the balloon, from which the gas escaped.
They might, in throwing out the last of their ballast, have,
perhaps, prolonged for a little their sojourn in space, but the
circumstances in which they were placed did not permit them to
make many more scientific observations than those they had made,
and thus they were obliged to submit to their fate. When they
had reached their greatest height, there seemed to open up in the
midst of the vaporous mass a brilliant space, from which they
could see the blue of heaven. The polariscope, directed towards
this region, showed an internal polarisation, but, when pointed
to the side where the mist still prevailed, there was no
polarisation.
An optical phenomenon of a remarkable kind was witnessed when the
voyagers had attained their highest point. They saw the sun
through the upper mists, looking quite white, as if shorn of its
strength; and, at the same time, below the horizontal plane,
below their horizon, and at an angular distance from the plane
equal to that of the sun above it, they saw a second sun, which
resembled the reflection of the actual sun in a sheet of water.
It is natural to suppose that the second sun was formed by the
reflection of the sun's rays upon the horizontal faces of the ice
crystals floating in this high cloud.
Chapter III. Ascents of the Mssrs. Welsh, Glaisher and Coxwell.
The most recent balloon ascents in England deserving attention
have been undertaken for scientific objects, and in this country,
more than in any other, it may be said that the conquest of the
air has been made to serve a practical end.
In July, 1852, the Committee of the Kew Observatory resolved to
undertake a number of balloon voyages. This resolution was
approved of by the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, and the necessary instruments for making a number of
meteorological observations were prepared. The balloon employed
was that of Mr. Green, who was accompanied in his ascents by Mr.
Welsh. The greatest height to which Mr. Welsh rose was on the
fourth ascent which took place on the 10th of November, 1852.
The balloon rose 22,930 feet, and the lowest temperature observed
was 26 degrees below zero.
It is to Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell, however, that the highest
honours of scientific aerostation belong. The ascents made by
these gentlemen--Mr. Glaisher being the scientific observer, and
Mr. Coxwell the practical aeronaut--have become matters of
history. Not only did they, in the course of a large number of
ascents undertaken under the auspices of the British Association,
succeed in gathering much valuable meteorological information,
but they reached a greater height than that ever gained on any
previous or subsequent occasion, and penetrated into that distant
region of the skies in which it has been satisfactorily proved
that no life can be long maintained. It was on the 5th of
September, 1862,that Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell made the famous
ascent in which they reached the greatest height ever attained by
an aeronaut, and were so nearly sacrificed to their unselfish
daring. Mr. Glaisher has given an admirable account of this
ascent, which took place from Wolverhampton. He says:--"Our
ascent had been delayed, owing to the unfavourable state of the
weather. It commenced at three minutes past one p.m., the
temperature of the air being 59 degrees, and the dew-point 48
degrees. At the height of one mile the temperature was 41
degrees and the dew-point 38 degrees. Shortly after wards clouds
were entered of about 1,100 feet in thickness. Upon emerging
from them at seventeen minutes past one, I tried to take a view
of their surface with the camera, but the balloon was ascending
too rapidly and spiraling too quickly to allow me to do so. The
height of two miles was reached at twenty-one minutes past one.
The temperature of the air had fallen to 32 degrees and the
dew-point to 26 degrees. The third mile was passed at
twenty-eight minutes past one, with an air temperature of 18
degrees, and a dew-point of 13 degrees. The fourth mile was
passed at thirty-nine minutes past one, with an air temperature
of 8 degrees, and a dew-point of minus 6 degrees and the fifth
mile about ten minutes later, with an air temperature minus 5
degrees, and a dew-point minus 36 degrees.
"Up to this time I had experienced no particular inconvenience.
When at the height of 26,000 feet I could not see the fine column
of the mercury in the tube; then the fine divisions on the scale
of the instrument became invisible. At that time I asked Mr.
Coxwell to help me to read the instruments, as I experienced a
difficulty in seeing them. In consequence of the rotary motion of
the balloon, which had continued without ceasing since the earth
was left, the valve line had become twisted, and he had to leave
the car, and to mount into the ring above to adjust it. At that
time I had no suspicion of other than temporary inconvenience in
seeing. Shortly afterwards I laid my arm upon the table,
possessed of its full vigour; but directly after, being desirous
of using it, I found it powerless. It must have lost its power
momentarily. I then tried to move the other arm, but found it
powerless also. I next tried to shake myself, and succeeded in
shaking my body. I seemed to have no legs. I could only shake
my body. I then looked at the barometer, and whilst I was doing
so my head fell on my left shoulder. I struggled, and shook my
body again, but could not move my arms. I got my head upright,
but for an instant only, when it fell on my right shoulder; and
then I fell backwards, my back resting against the side of the
car, and my head on its edge. In that position my eyes were
directed towards Mr. Coxwell in the ring. When I shook my body
I seemed to have full power over the muscles of the back, and
considerable power over those of the neck, but none over my
limbs. As in the case of the arms, all muscular power was lost
in an instant from my back and neck. I dimly saw Mr. Coxwell in
the ring, and endeavoured to speak, but could not do so; when in
an instant intense black darkness came over me, and the optic
nerve lost power suddenly. I was still conscious, with as active
a brain as whilst writing this. I thought I had been seized with
asphyxia, and that I should experience no more, as death would
come unless we speedily descended. Other thoughts were actively
entering my mind when I suddenly became unconscious, as though
going to sleep. I could not tell anything about the sense of
hearing: the perfect stillness of the regions six miles from the
earth--and at that time we were between six and seven miles
high--is such that no sound reaches the ear. My last observation
was made at 29,000 feet, about fifty-four minutes past one. I
suppose two or three minutes elapsed between my eyes becoming
insensible to seeing the fine divisions and fifty-four minutes
past one, and that other two or three minutes elapsed before I
became unconscious; therefore I think that took place about
fifty-six or fifty-seven minutes past one. Whilst powerless I
heard the words 'temperature,' and 'observation,' and I knew Mr.
Coxwell was in the car, speaking to me, and endeavouring to rouse
me; and therefore consciousness and hearing had returned. I then
heard him speak more emphatically, but I could not speak or move.
Then I heard him say, 'Do try; now do!' Then I saw the
instruments dimly, next Mr. Coxwell, and very shortly I saw
clearly. I rose in my seat and looked round, as though waking
from sleep, and said to Mr. Coxwell, 'I have been insensible.' He
said, 'Yes; and I too, very nearly.' I then drew up my legs,
which had been extended out before me, and took a pencil in my
hand to note my observations. Mr. Coxwell informed me that he
had lost the use of his hands, which were black, and I poured
brandy over them. I resumed my observations at seven minutes
past two. I suppose three or four minutes were occupied from the
time of my hearing the words 'temperature' and 'observation,'
until I began to observe. If so, then returning consciousness
came at four minutes past two, and that gives about seven minutes
of total insensibility. Mr. Coxwell told me that in coming from
the ring he thought for a moment that I had laid back to rest
myself; that he spoke to me without eliciting a reply; that he
then noticed that my legs projected, and my arms hung down by my
side. That my countenance was serene and placid, without
earnestness or anxiety, he had noticed before going into the
ring. It then struck him that I was insensible. He wished then
to approach me, but could not, and he felt insensibility coming
over himself. He became anxious to open the valve, but, in
consequence of having lost the use of his hands, he could not;
and ultimately he did so by seizing the cord with his teeth and
dipping his head two or three times. No inconvenience followed
our insensibility. When we dropped it was in a country where no
accommodation of any kind could be obtained, so that we had to
walk between seven and eight miles. At the time of ceasing our
observations the ascent was at the rate of 1,000 feet per minute,
and on resuming observations the descent was at the rate of 2,000
feet per minute. These two positions must be connected, having
relation to the interval of time which elapsed between them; and
they can scarcely be connected at a point less than 36,000 or
37,000 feet high. Again, a very delicate minimum thermometer was
found to read minus 12 degrees, and that reading would indicate
an elevation exceeding 36,000 feet. There cannot be any doubt
that the balloon attained the great height of seven miles--the
greatest ever reached. In this ascent six pigeons were taken up.
One was thrown out at three miles. It extended its wings, and
dropped like a piece of paper. A second at four miles, and it
flew with vigour. A third between four and five miles, and it
fell downwards. A fourth was thrown out at four miles in
descending, and it alighted on the top of the balloon. Two were
brought to the ground. One was dead, and the other was ill, but
recovered so as to fly away in a quarter of an hour."
The results gathered by Mr. Glaisher from his numerous ascents
are very interesting. He found that in no instance did the
temperature of the air decrease uniformly with the increase of
height. In fact, the decrease in the first mile is double that
in the second, and nearly four times as great as the change of
temperature in the fifth mile. The distribution of aqueous
vapour in the air is no less remarkable. The temperature of the
dew-point on leaving the earth decreases less rapidly than the
temperature of the air; so that the difference between the two
temperatures becomes less and less, till the vapour or cloud
plane is reached, when they are usually together, and always most
nearly approach each other, and that point is usually at about
the height of one mile. On leaving the upper surface of cloud,
the dew point decreases more rapidly than the air, and at
extremely high situations the difference between the two
temperatures is wonderfully great, indicating an extraordinary
degree of dryness, and an almost entire absence of water. Under
these circumstances, the presence of cirrus clouds far above this
dry region, apparently as much above as when viewed from the
earth, is very remarkable, and leads to the conclusion that they
are not composed of water.
In the propagation of sound, M. Glaisher made many curious
experiments. In one ascent (July 17th) he found, when at a
distance of 11,800 feet above the earth, that a band was heard;
at a height of 22,000 feet, a clap of thunder was heard; and at a
height of 10,070 feet, the report of a gun was heard. On one
occasion, he heard the dull hum of London at a height of 9,000
feet above the city, and on another occasion, the shouting of
many thousands of persons could not be heard at the height of
4,000 feet.
Chapter IV. Balloons Made Useful in Warfare.
Wars of the French Republic--Company of "Ballooneers"--Battle of
Fleurus--The Balloons of Egypt--Napoleon--Modern Services War in
Italy--War in America--Conclusion.
We will conclude our work with a glance at aerostation as applied
to warfare. Scarcely had the first ascents astonished the world,
than the more adventurous spirits began to use the new discovery
for a thousand purposes directly useful to man. The first point
of view in which aerostation was regarded, was in that of its
practical utility If one refers to the pre-occupations of the
time--to the great events then occurring in the history of
France, one will easily understand that the Committee of Public
Safety soon thought of employing balloons in the observation of
the forces and the movements of hostile troops. In 1794, the
idea was practically carried out, and the French armies were
provided with two companies of aeronauts. The command of one of
these companies was given to Captain Coutelle, a young physicist
of great talent, who rendered memorable services at the battle of
Fleurus. The balloons were not thrown free, but were retained
attached by means of long cords. In this way they took up, so to
speak, aerial posts of observation. Placed in his car, the
captain transmitted his instructions to his men below by means of
coloured flags. Coutelle has left us a lively narrative of
certain incidents connected with one of the grand days of the old
Republic. He had been commissioned by the Committee of Public
Safety to go to Maubeuge, where Jourdan's army was encamped, and
to offer him the use of his balloon. The representative to whom
the young doctor presented his commission, knew nothing about
balloons, and not being able to understand the order of the
Committee of Public Safety, it suddenly dawned upon him that
Coutelle, with his trumpery forgery about balloons, was nothing
else than a spy, and he was about to have him shot. The
genuineness of the order from the Committee, however, was proved,
and Coutelle's case was listened to.
"The army was at Beaumont," says Coutelle, "and the enemy, placed
at a distance of only three miles, could attack at any moment.
The general told me this fact, and engaged me to return and
communicate it to the Committee. This I did. The Commission
then felt the necessity of making an experiment with a balloon
that could raise two persons, and the minister placed at my
service the garden and the little mansion of Meudon. Many of the
members of the Commission came to witness the first ascent of a
balloon held in hand, like a kite, by means of two cords. The
Commissioners ordered me to place myself in the car, and
instructed me as to a number of signals which I must repeat, and
observations which I must make. I raised myself to the full
length of the cord, a height of 1,500 feet, and at this height,
with the help of a glass, I could distinctly see the seven bends
of the river Seine. On returning to the earth, I received the
compliments of the Commission.
"Arrived at Maubeuge, my first care was to find a suitable spot
to erect my furnace, and to make every preparation for the
arrival of my balloon from Meudon. Each day my observations
contained something new either in the works which the Austrians
had thrown up during the night, or in the arrangement of their
forces. On the fifth day a piece of cannon had been brought to
bear upon the balloon, and shots were fired at me as soon as I
appeared above the ramparts. None of the shots took effect, and
on the following day the piece was no longer in position.
Experience enforced upon me the necessity of forming some
provision against these unexpected attacks. I employed the night
in fixing cords all round the middle of my balloon. Each of the
aerostiers had charge of one of the ropes, and by means of them I
could easily move about, and thus get myself out of range of any
gun that had been trained to bear against me. I was afterwards
ordered to make a reconnaissance at Mayence, and I posted myself
between our lines and the enemy at half range of cannon. When
the wind, which was tempestuous at first, became calmer, I was
able to count the number of cannon on the ramparts, as well as
the troops that marched through the streets and in the squares.
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